Thursday, May 4, 2017

Donald Trump is insane! His administration is an embarrassment to the Keystone Cops. Everyday, I physically cringe and get not a little nauseous when it comes back to me that he is our president. I have spared nothing in my derision, outrage, sarcasm and disgust. I have been about as merciless with those who chose to vote for him.

However, a sobering thought keeps hitting me in the head. Bill Maher touched on this in his "New Rules" monologue last Friday night. In it he stat...ed that we should give up trying to change his true believers' minds by cynically bringing up facts. All we're accomplishing is cementing them even deeper in the hardening concrete of their delusion.

As hard as it will be, we have to find a way to understand where it is they are coming from. We need to be sincere in our efforts to communicate, mainly to listen and then discuss the issues and attempt to find common ground.

This will not be easy, but consider, we generally consider ourselves as being generally smarter and more aware of what's happening than most Trumpsters. I know this sounds not just a little smarmy and condescending. I guess it is. But if we want to break through the barrier between our respective camps, it will likely be up to us to take the first step. It will require that we swallow hard, that we gird our loins (however that is accomplished) and dive in.

Frankly, I don't have any idea how to begin, other than for us to go to friends and family and give it a go. I think it's probably best to listen a lot more than we talk.

Monday, May 1, 2017

Our world wise president once again proves he knows absolutely nothing about
history, in particular, American History. He hasn't so much as picked up
a book anytime in his adult life.

He now claims that that
bastion of racial tolerance, Andrew Jackson would have had just the
right touch to mediate between the north and south, and therefore, would
have avoided the Civil War. What a guy! Never mind that it was Jackson
who oversaw the slaughter of thousands of Native Americans and displacing
thousands more. No doubt he would have mustered the sensitivity to deal
fairly with all factions including Black slaves, southern plantation
owners, northern merchants and abolitionists to come to an amicable
agreement that would have been lauded by all.

Trump has also said that he would be honored to have that "pretty smart
cookie" Korea's Kim Jong Un come for a White House visit so they could
"work things out." He has also made an open invitation to Philippine
President Rodrigo Duterte to come have a nice WH dinner. This after
calling and congratulating Turkey's dictator Erdogan for his electoral
victory, eliminating all democratic elements of their government.

Notice a pattern here? Coupled with his long time swooning over
Vladimir Putin, Trump has repeatedly and consistently shown an
admiration and probably not a little envy for the world's current crop
of authoritarian leaders. Delusions of grandeur.

"Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education alone will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent." - Calvin Coolidge

Thought For The Day

I'm not thorough. I'm just slow.

Food for Thought

Sometimes yes, maybe no. Sometimes no, maybe yes.

Thought For a Green Day.

"Being Irish, he had an abiding sense of tragedy, which sustained him through temporary periods of joy." -- William Butler Yeats

About Me

I am a charter member of the Boomer generation having been born in 1946. My fellow Boomers and I have lived through some incredible events - good and bad. Now my wife Jo and I are "empty nesters" faced with aging and all that comes with it. My two kids are out and about pursuing their lives. My wife and I continue to adjust to life in the slow lane.